Abstract/Description

This infonote summarizes initial findings of a project entitled
“Impact of communicating seasonal climate forecasts
to cowpea and sesame farmers in Yatenga region, North
Burkina Faso’” undertaken during the 2014 main agricultural
season by scientists from the CCAFS West Africa
programme and the Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches
Agricoles (INERA), Burkina Faso.
Sesame is a cash crop promoted in recent years to respond
to a growing global demand. Quite versatile and
produced across the country, yields remain low with an
average of 300-350kg/ha. National production was estimated
at around 60,000 tons in 2012, mostly for export.
Cowpea is a key legume crop, mostly cultivated by smallholder
farmers in intercropping with cereals (95%). Yields
are low (around 300kg/ha) while it could reach 1,500kg/ha
in monoculture. Just a minority (5%) of farmers use modern
inputs (improved seeds, fertilizer) and market their
grain for the regional market.
This project aims at assessing:
 The effect of climate information services on farm
productivity and incomes for cowpea and sesame
farmers in the Yatenga region;
 Farmers’ willingness to pay for such climate
information services
 Lessons learned for potential scaling up of
communicating climate forecasts services in the
cowpea and sesame sector as a way to improve
farmer climate resilience and productivity.
Such studies are also being carried out in climate-smart
villages in Senegal (Kaffrine region).